To help find your way

eBird Express

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eBird Express Screenshots

The following screenshots should give you some idea of what using eBird Express involves. They’re here to wet your appetite.

Blank Checklist

You create new, blank checklists from a template in Excel. This gives you a spreadsheet with all the birds for a region. You then fill out your checklists and process the file for uploading into eBird.

Ribbon Button in Excel 2007

The controls for eBird Express show up only when you’re viewing an eBird Express template or an unprocessed checklist. Otherwise, the control doesn’t appear in Excel. In 2007, the controls show up as a button on the ribbon. In Excel 2003 and earlier, the controls appear as a custom menu between the file and edit menus.

When it’s time to process your file, you simply click on the eBird icon. (Excel 2003 and earlier users choose “Process for eBird” from the eBird express menu.)

Ribbon Button with Options Menu in Excel 2007

User Preferences

Valid Taxonomy Message

One nice feature is that you can check the taxonomy on a checklist to make sure it’s valid for eBird. This is helpful when you make a new template or add species to a checklist not on the template.

Validation Error When Trying to Process Checklist

Validation errors appear in red and display a message with the problem.

Success Message After Processing Checklist

If no validation errors occur when processing a checklist, this success message is displayed.

CSV File Output to the Desktop

Processing a checklist sends a .CSV (comma separated values) file to the desktop. This is a text file in the format that you can upload directly into eBird.

Archive File Saved to a Folder of Your Choice

eBird Express can also save a copy for your archives. Notice that any columns you didn’t use and any species you didn’t see are automatically removed from the archive file when you process a checklist.